St. Mary's notches tie against Catlin Gabel

St. Mary's coach Dave Potter knew Saturday's girls soccer opener against perennial power Catlin Gabel at U.S. Cellular Community Park would provide a stern challenge to his inexperienced squad.

St. Mary's coach Dave Potter knew Saturday's girls soccer opener against perennial power Catlin Gabel at U.S. Cellular Community Park would provide a stern challenge to his inexperienced squad.

The Crusaders defeated the Eagles 3-0 in the first game of the 2011 season. Both teams lost to eventual state champion Oregon Episcopal in last year's state playoffs. St. Mary's was eliminated in the semifinals, while Catlin Gabel got beat in the title game.

Potter had plenty of praise in coming away with a 0-0 tie despite losing 11 players off last year's squad.

"We anticipated a good match and we sure had one," said Potter. "We played at a level I didn't anticipate. We had a lot of new players playing their first varsity match against a seasoned Catlin Gabel team."

Potter was particularly pleased with the performances of midfielders Rachel Raniele and Mary Beth Barnum and sophomore goalkeeper Viv Juncal.

"(Juncal's) communication, distribution and making plays on the ball to cut off Catlin Gabel opportunities was near perfect," said Potter. "We made so few mistakes on defense. We played with discipline and composure."

PROSPECT 52, BUTTE FALLS 0 — At Prospect, Boston Ehlers run for two touchdowns and passed for two more as Prospect scored all its points in the first half of the nonconference season opener.